Qatar LNG factory explosion injures 54, leaves 18 missing, gov’t says

Blast astatine Ras Laffan Industrial City caused by ‘technical malfunction’, Ministry of Interior says.

An detonation astatine Qatar’s main liquefied earthy state processing installation has injured 54 radical and near 18 others missing, authorities person said.

The Qatari International Search and Rescue Group were deployed to behaviour hunt operations for those missing pursuing the “internal explosion” astatine Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar’s Ministry of Interior said connected Monday.

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The ministry did not supply accusation connected the conditions of those injured successful the incident, which it blamed connected a “technical malfunction”.

Officials had said earlier that civilian defence teams responding to the country had not recorded immoderate injuries.

The ministry said determination was nary leakage from the installation that would airs a information to nationalist safety.

QatarEnergy, which administers the concern hub, said exigency effect teams were instantly deployed aft the detonation astatine the Barzan mill and brought a occurrence astatine the installation nether control.

Ras Laffan Industrial City, located astir 80km (50 miles) northbound of Doha, is location to the world’s largest LNG export facility, producing astir one-fifth of planetary supply.

In March, the Qatari authorities announced that the concern hub had sustained “significant damage” aft being targeted by Iranian rocket and drone attacks.

QatarEnergy invoked the unit majeure clause successful immoderate of its contracts to escaped itself from its proviso obligations pursuing the attacks, affecting customers ⁠in Italy, Belgium, South Korea ⁠and China.